The Picture of Dorian Gray

I promised I wouldn't review this because I'd go on forever and ever...

One of Wilde's most famous masterpiece's is constructed as a microcosm of aristocratic scrutiny whilst showing us that the maintenance of true youth is almost impossible without a quintessential source of internal corruption. This piece of decadent art makes the very essence of human nature destroy itself and become reborn in a novel that took the gothic genre by storm. 

My favourite novel: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Character:

Now, my favourite character throughout the entire novel is not Dorian; but it is in fact, Lord Henry "Harry" Wotton. This man seeks to corrupt what Basil knows as incorruptible. He seeks to maintain Dorian's beauty whilst morally unhinging him and creating a mass hysteria amongst the women of London - who boundlessly fall in love with him. I see Lord Henry as Dorian's true source of corruption and, with his paradoxes, seeks to not only unhinge Dorian's mind, but also control it. He speaks of marriage as a subject of "deception" being "absolutely necessary" and states that Dorian has "the only two things worth having" which are "youth and beauty." But, he also tarnishes Dorian's imagination with rough hedonism and images only possible to attain from the experience of cultural and moral denial amongst a world that is so full of intrigue. These ideals make Lord Henry a villain with his intention to do good - his attempts to make Dorian realise his own ability of control are used against him when Dorian becomes the despot of his own image - ruling the beautiful class of London; one killing and one downfall at a time. The painting is therefore an image that Dorian wishes to keep but cannot fully obtain - his youth remains, but the beauty underneath sinks and eventually disappears. This, being the cause of Lord Henry and his influence - is Wilde's description in the preface of "those who look beneath the surface do so at their peril." At this, Lord Henry does in fact look beneath the surface - and unfortunately realises he's created a monster. He pollutes Dorian's mind and all of this can be seen in Chapter 1 in which Lord Henry is outside the studio, smoking in a pure spring garden. All of these allusions to the 'pure' and the 'beautiful' presenting us with the true "burden of beauty" are allusions to Dorian Gray (that we shall meet in Chapter 2). The fact that Lord Henry is smoking in it means that he is polluting the air. A foreshadowing that we can understand to mean that he is polluting Dorian Gray's mind.

Themes:

The best theme in this entire novel is probably the question of morality. Where do we draw the line between what is moral and what is not? 

Dorian Gray seemingly finds justification in his actions by resorting to his youthful ways. He explains that he is inexperienced in dealing with certain situations, but then switches to harsh and unwilling tones through the novel - making it obvious that his beauty has become his "burden" rather than his gift. He denounces Sybil's affection with a harsh tone and uses his youth to his advantage to cause terrible happenings. He looks James Vane in the eyes and asks him that if he had killed his (James') sister, wouldn't he (Dorian) look at least 18 years older because it had been so long... But obviously, James Vane finds out that Dorian "sold his soul to the devil for a pretty face." 

Human understanding is somewhat confused over what this novel means by "moral" and "immoral" because of the era that it is written in. The Victorian Era was a time of gothic morality questioning and a critique of the aristocracy. This was because people now believed that those who had the resources to do wrong, would have the knowledge and want to do wrong. What was considered wrong in this case though, was more of a personal question. For example: lying to one's own self was considered an immoral thing to do, but not wrong upon others. Thus, the self-destruction of the protagonist relies on his ambition to continue lying to himself whilst he gains notoriety for his monstrosity and perfection at different sides of the spectrum. 

Storyline:

The storyline is complex as it is contradictory. I believe that the very nature of contradiction in this Wilde novel is done on purpose to create this ambition of perfection being contradictory of its cause. Wilde's preface tells us everything about the relationship between artist and art - but suppose this isn't an explanation of what happens in the novel between Dorian and Basil, but actually a critique of Wilde's relation to the work itself as a book. As writing is an art. Wilde's purple thread of doom runs through this book as a critique of various things (not entirely negative): aristocracy, art, aesthetics, decadence, beauty, homoeroticism, youth and morality. The only thing that is really positively taken to is homoeroticism as Basil constantly dotes upon Dorian, giving him a heroic view before we've even met him. The entire artistic nature of the novel bases itself on the fact that Dorian Gray is beautiful, but then he quickly turns tragic with his corruption by Lord Henry. The fact that his appearance never changes tells us exactly what we were looking at in Wilde's preface about "looking beneath the surface" and as we too, "look beneath the surface" we tend to find more of Wilde's character than Dorian's, or Basil's, or even Henry's coming out here. The Lacanian viewpoint is that "the reader's interpretation does not reveal the author, but reveals about the reader themselves..." This, I believe is true and in the case of The Picture of Dorian Gray this becomes more and more apparent as Oscar Wilde is, in fact, dead. We cannot possibly know exactly what he was like, so we interpret his book by "looking beneath the surface" and "do so at (our) own peril." Thus showing that Wilde thought of this theory maybe years before Lacan ever did. The storyline therefore is a multiplicity of hypocrisies of the aristocracy and its "reasoning" and its inability to sort what is moral from what is immoral. 

Verdict:

I give this book 10 out of 9 (I know).

100% for character:

Not only Lord Henry, but Basil Hallward, Dorian Gray, Sybil Vane, James Vane and even Lady Agatha and duplicitous characters in a society that not only requires them to be, but also tells them that they shouldn't be. This hypocrisy played out is one of the keys to the lock that holds the downfall of the eponymous protagonist. 

4/3 for themes:

I believe that each one of the themes of this novel is highlighted to its full extent in images that are so impossible to miss, yet easy to misinterpret. Wilde seeks this to attain who his reader really is and what person they are. Whether they view Dorian as a tragic hero, or a valiant villain - whether they view Henry or Basil as the true corruption of Dorian's nature - whether they view Sybil as manipulated by Dorian or simply young and naive. All these aspects do not tell us about Wilde, but in fact tell Wilde about us. 

100% for storyline:

This storyline is so intricate that there a very few (to no) plot holes that we can find. The essence of Dorian's existence relies on the picture being kept safe - but the essence of our understanding requires us to know whether the painting is destroyed. An ideal so basic, yet so very contradictory is one of the many fine art contradictions that are finely artistic about The Picture of Dorian Gray. The very picture being a critique of human existence without being human - yet having the abilities to be. A great storyline pitched on a perfect note - this composition of life and death in a truly decadent society of aristocratic dictatorship of morality seeks to lose us in a fine finish of chaos and cruelty. 

My favourite quotations (for my favourite novel!)

"Marriage is what makes a life of deception absolutely necessary..." - Lord Henry

"You have the only two things in the world worth having. Youth and beauty." 

- Lord Henry

"There are no limits." 

- Lord Henry

"All art is quite useless." 

- Oscar Wilde (Preface)

"Art's aim is to reveal the art and conceal the artist." 

- Oscar Wilde (Preface)

"I feel like I have put too much of myself into it..."

- Basil Hallward

"London was like the dull note of a distant organ..." 

- Omniscient Narrator (Chapter 1)

"...their burden of beauty..." 

- Omniscient Narrator (Chapter 1)

"...only when they saw the rings on the fingers did they realise who it was..." 

- Omniscient Narrator (Chapter 20)